An audit of former Edmonson County Clerk Larry Carroll noted numerous points of noncompliance with state laws and regulations, including the use of office funds to pay legal fees, purchase coffee, failing to provide time sheets and altered records so vehicle registrations could be renewed without paying delinquent taxes first.

Some of the matters are being turned over to other agencies for further review. 

Embroiled in lawsuits with Edmonson County Fiscal Court, Carroll did not seek re-election in 2014, Judge-executive Wil Cannon said, adding that Carroll’s successor, Kevin Alexander, took office in January 2015. 

Cannon wouldn’t comment on what the lawsuits are regarding, though he said he hasn’t seen Carroll in a year or more.

Edmonson County attorney J.B. Hines also wouldn’t comment on the nature of the lawsuits. 

“These are issues that precede my being county attorney,” he said.

Greg Vincent, a former Edmonson County Attorney, filed the lawsuits, which are pending in Edmonson County Circuit Court, he said.    

“Those matters are being reviewed and we’ll make appropriate decisions on how to proceed,” he said.

Carroll could not be reached for comment.

There are Edmonson County Circuit Court documents related to four lawsuits in which fiscal court sued Carroll.

One of these, which began in 2012, stems from Carroll refusing an open records request from Vincent seeking copies of itemized bills, with Carroll arguing that the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege, according to Circuit Court documents.

Another, also dating back to 2012, is the result of Carroll spending $119,103 during the 2010 fiscal year, though fiscal court had set a $99,000 cap on county clerk expenditures for that year. He also owed the fiscal court $4,668 in additional excess fees.

Another suit began in 2013, after an audit revealed that he spent $150,996, in fiscal year 2011, when there had been a $143,961 cap.     

One suit, which was filed in 2008, was spurred when an audit stated that Carroll owed the fiscal court $1,378 in excess fees, which Carroll refused to give, arguing that the money in question should be seen as compensation for his services as clerk.

The state auditor is required to audit county clerks and sheriffs annually, and must comment on any noncompliance with laws, regulations, contracts or grants, in addition to any material weaknesses involving the internal control over financial operations and reporting.

According to a news release from the office of Mike Harmon, Kentucky’s auditor of public accounts, the audit found that Carroll had “questioned costs” of $381 for legal fees in 2014. The money to pay these fees was taken from an annual supplement account received from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the report said. The auditors “were unable to determine if the legal fees were incurred as a result of the former county clerk fulfilling his statutory duties,” the audit said.

Another matter is being referred to the attorney general’s office, transportation cabinet and Kentucky Department of Revenue for further review. This involved several instances in which vehicle registrations were renewed when documents were changed so they would override a system in place to prevent renewals when delinquent taxes were owed on the vehicles. The changes included entering invalid Social Security numbers: 999-99-999 was used in four instances.

The report also mentions that Carroll had disbursements for $541 worth of coffee in 2013 and $374 worth of coffee in 2014. Personal in nature, the expenses were not allowed and were referred to the county attorney for collection.

The former county clerk also failed to provide time sheets, documents regarding employee leave balances and IRS 1099 forms, according to the report.  

“The former bookkeeper stated time sheets and 1099 forms were maintained and leave balances for employees were tracked; however, she was unaware of their location,” the report said.  

These documents were also not turned over to Kevin Alexander, the new clerk, Cannon said.

“If these documents do exist, he probably took them with him when he left office,” he said. 

Alexander was unavailable for comment.

Carroll did not respond to any part of the audit, the audit said.

— Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com